Fruit of their Labors
by ValarSpawn
Summary: Whatif? continuation of The Lines Between Flesh & Steel. When Caterina joins the Rosenkreuz Orden, Tres and Maria part ways. Some years later, Tres finds her in Byzantium, in the company of a boy. Then he realizes she's old enough to be his mother...
1. Disclaimer & Prologue

Fruit of their Labors

Author: HC-IIIX/ ValarSpawn

Anime/Manga: Trinity Blood

Trinity Blood © Trinity Blood Partners

Plot: "What if?" continuation of The Lines Between Flesh & Steel. When Caterina joins the Rosenkreuz Orden, Tres and Maria part ways. Some years later, Tres finds her in Byzantium, in the company of a boy. That's well and good, until he realizes she is old enough to be the boy's mother…

Note: We, the author, apologize beforehand for glitches and/or discrepancies in the fanfic's timeline.

Prologue

"Go with her."

The man's visage betrayed no expression; she would have felt a strange sense of disappointment if it had. In all the years they had known each other, he had barely shown even one iota of emotion.

This was, of course, despite the occasional "glitch" every now and then.

_It does not matter anymore. Not now._ Pause. _…Not now that he is truly Mine._

Before a swell of pathos at the enormity of this truth threatened to implode from within her, the Gunslinger's voice brought her back to Earth.

"Will this be your final request before departure…and eventual parting of ways, Maria?"

To all appearances, the fact that they would soon part company did not bother her, and bothered him even less. But Maria knew better; Tres was actually quite distressed and felt torn between his loyalties to Caterina Sforza and Maria Sforza-Valdemars. A sad smile broke through her calm façade as she reached out to cup his cheek.

"The rest goes without saying, Tres; you know this." She slowly pulled her hand away from his face, but his hand rose up quickly to prevent this. An involuntary action.

They remained this way for a few minutes, gazing into the depths of each other's eyes. Finally, Tres made the first move, sitting down and pulling the Dhampir/Crusnik into his lap. Maria watched as his hands slowly rubbed her thighs, dragging up the skirt of her dress.

"…We still have some time before we leave."

"Do we?"

One of his hands went up to her crotch and cupped it, squeezing a little. The young woman gave a start and blushed at this, trying hard not to give herself away. Smiling slightly, the Gunslinger kept teasing her, trailing kisses up her neck to the corner of her lips. Going down Maria's neck again, he paused for a moment before using his final stratagem to arouse her passion.

After unzipping her high collar enough to expose most of Maria's neck, he bit her, his half-developed vampire fangs leaving small dents in her skin. It was not enough to draw blood. No, they were lacking in both edge and length for that purpose.

But it was enough to incite Maria.

Crusnik's were natural predators to vampires and indeed to most things in general, almost like human-sized doomsday weapons. But despite all that, they would still react to this tease like vampires would.

Soon, the gothic aristocrat black traveling dress and Rosenkreuz Orden uniform were scattered across the floor.

End Prologue


	2. Act I: Reunion Amidst Cherry Blossoms

Act I

It had taken him the course of a few weeks to reach Byzantium. It was only to be expected, as he had opted for a cyborg horse instead of an airship, which would have taken him to the Methuselah Capital in the course of a few hours.

Tres Iqus, however, had not felt like taking a practical course of action.

Pulling the dark scarf over his nose and mouth, he reached into his pocket and pulled out, carefully, a folded paper. Holding the reins in one hand, with a deft gesture the Gunslinger unfolded the piece of parchment to observe the contents.

It was a photograph. The colors seemed to be especially vibrant, and save for the creases it acquired from being folded, there was hardly a wrinkle. The subject of the photograph was a young woman, clad in the uniform of a Catholic nun. A slit ran up the left side of the skirt, revealing a leg clad in black, thigh-length socks with embroidered roses, positioned to tease his field of vision.

Otherwise, the photograph's subject appeared modest. Her dark brown hair cascaded down to her hips, accentuated by black highlights that glittered like jet from the sunlight shining down on it. Her gray eyes held a sense of sharp wit and cunning to them, as well as strong intuition with a healthy dose of sarcasm. A fresh scar decorated her left eye.

The background was a garden, filled mostly with trees and bushes. The young woman was sitting on a bench under the shade of a pomegranate tree, a dish containing a split pomegranate by her side. From the looks of the fruit, she had been eating it when the picture was taken.

All these details Tres reviewed in his mind as he folded the photograph again, putting it in his pocket before his passport and traveler's VISA took the place of the photograph in that same hand. At the same time, the Gunslinger's heels dug into the sides of his mount, urging it on towards the gates.

She was dreaming again. In fact, she had been doing that on an almost-daily basis these days. The subject was, unfailingly, the same.

_Tres…_

Maria bit down hard on her lower lip, forcefully preventing the sigh that wanted to heave itself out of her mouth from leaving her lips. Her teeth caused a small tear on her lip and she licked at it, tasting the blood.

"You seem nervous."

The small voice startled her, causing the Dhampir/Crusnik to jump slightly on her seat. She glanced towards the source of the voice, sitting on the carpeted floor several feet away from her.

_Why must you be so receptive…?_ Maria inquired silently, as she didn't expect the child to answer the question. The little boy merely held her gaze with his for a few minutes before turning back to what dominated his interest at the moment: drawing and painting.

It was to be expected that his works of art were not yet spectacular and awe-inspiring; he was still very much a child, three years old at the least. Still, Maria thought his skill far surpassed hers at that age; she was fairly certain that the people she drew at age three did not have _some_ semblance of a body…

The Dhampir/Crusnik eyed the subject of the boy's drawing. The background appeared to be _Senbonzakura Kageyoshi_, a large park in Byzantium famous for its cherry trees. In fact, that was in so far the only plant the park had save for the occasional decorative bush or hedge. She roughly estimated that when painted, the crowns of the trees will be light pink.

By contrast, in the middle of all that pink was a dark figure, sitting astride a dark horse. Maria blinked, then refocused her sight on the personage of the drawing. Thus far, he (she was fairly certain it was a he) had been the only colored object in the picture, and even then, the artist had used only black, and nothing else.

Her gray eyes flicked towards an opened book lying by the child's side. He had used _Vampire Hunter D_ as reference for this figure.

Maria still found it ironic that the series was a bestseller in the Methuselah/New Human Empire, particularly when the Empire was the place where it would be most likely to be banned.

After a few seconds, she stood up and went over to the coat hanger, and grabbed a dark blue cloak and a smaller green coat.

"We are going out."

The Gunslinger had been searching for half an hour now. He had not deigned to inquire for her whereabouts; he did not need to. Tres would recognize his target once he came in contact with the aforementioned person.

The cyborg horse shuffled its weight beneath him as it waited for the traffic to clear up, the stallion's breath creating a small mist in the cold air. Once it cleared, the horse paced onwards, not bothering to wait for his rider's signal.

After several minutes, Tres spotted the park.

The park was aptly named, and he could not have arrived at a more opportune moment, when the trees were in full bloom and could be seen even from an airship. The beauty was lost on the Gunslinger, however, and he acknowledged it with a mere nod. He had other priorities on his mind.

All the same, a flash of intuition told him to wait in the park.

And Tres obliged.

Maria walked through the trees, scanning her surroundings as she held the boy's hand. She really had no clue as to why she decided to come here on impulse; she could only recall thinking one thought at the time: that perhaps something might be waiting for her there.

Suddenly an image sprang up in her mind, an image of two lovers meeting in a forest of cherry trees in full bloom.

The Dhampir/Crusnik found it so incredibly cheesy she laughed out loud, startling the child beside her.

_She's thinking weird thoughts again…_ The boy thought resignedly as he stared up at the young woman, who was currently chuckling to herself. Then, rather abruptly, Maria stopped walking, her voice dying off mid-chuckle.

He followed her gaze, and his eyes widened a fraction.

Straight ahead, was the subject of his incomplete drawing. Or rather, as close to that subject as one could get in reality. For one, both man and horse were on the ground, with the man lying against the horse's side, the brim of his hat covering his face. The man appeared to be sleeping, but the boy did not think he was.

Then, rather slowly and with somewhat stiff movements, the man raised his head to glance at the pair.

Maria was rooted to the spot, not realizing how tightly she was gripping the child's hand, though his cry of protest made her quickly loosen her grip. Her gray eyes were fixed on the dark-clad personage, who stood up and walked over to them, not bothering to dust his clothes off.

All too quickly, the stranger was closing the distance.

"Is everything—"

"Yes, Janis." She smiled at him reassuringly.

Finally, the man stood before her, watching her. The minutes stretched on for an eternity before he spoke.

"I finally found you."

Before she registered it in her mind, he was kissing her.

End Act I


	3. Act II: Cat's out of the Bag

Act II

Maria Sforza-Valdemars had not changed much in three years' separation. In fact, they seemed to have blessed her, but in what form the Gunslinger was unaware.

Certainly it couldn't be youth—he estimated the Dhampir/Crusnik was at least twenty years old now. No, Time had blessed her in some other way… But what way was it?

That was when Tres became aware of something kicking at his legs. With great reluctance, he broke the kiss and looked down.

Something—or rather, someone—was kicking at his legs. It did not hurt, but it did prove bothersome. The culprit was a child, a boy he judged to be at least three years old, with short reddish-brown hair and black highlights. Tres was vaguely reminded of his own hair, as the boy seemed cursed with the same "natural-bedhead-in-appearance" style. His eyes were gray and a fresh scar, probably a birthmark inherited from birth, slashed down his left eye.

"Get away from her." The boy tried to glare at him fiercely, but it did not quite work to have the desired effect; it just made him cute.

"Ack! Janis, don't kick him!" Maria's hands went down on the child's shoulders and pulled him away from the Gunslinger, Janis still trying to score one final hit even as he was pulled away from the strange man in black.

"But he just walked up to you and—"

"That's true, Janis. He did. But…" A far-off look came into her eyes as she glanced towards Tres, a hint of longing in her eyes.

"It was not unwelcome, Janis. From him, a kiss would _never_ be unwelcome." A blush tinted Maria's cheeks as she considered what else would not be unwelcome from Hercules Tres Iqus.

The Gunslinger's eyes swept back and forth between woman and child, several times before finally settling on Maria.

"Who is he?"

Maria did not answer as she picked up the stallion's reins and forced it to stand, before walking over to Tres and Janis. Giving him the reins she picked up the boy and sat him upon the horse's back, shortening the stirrups before asserting her own hold on him, lest the boy should fall.

"I will explain everything once we get home."

Tres eyed the boy apprehensively before tightening his grip on the reins and giving a nod. "Understood."

Their destination was a private estate, not far from _Senbonzakura Kageyoshi_. Tres was fairly certain that this was not the same estate where the Grand Duchess Jelene Valdemars once lived. While spacious, it was smaller than the former, and the feeling it gave off was closer to home.

In the meantime, Maria wondered how she could explain to him without Tres freaking out on her. And for that matter, there was still Janis…

Briefly, the Dhampir/Crusnik toyed with the idea of killing two birds with one stone, then realized it would be better once she was alone with Tres.

All too soon, both Gunslinger and One-winged Angel were in a parlor, staring into the flames crackling in the fireplace. It was at least thirty minutes before Tres broke the silence.

"That boy…is he…?"

"Yes, he is mine."

His eyes widened a fraction before roughly seizing her right hand. No ring decorated it.

"Maria, did you have any sexual trysts in these last three years?" He felt a wave of self-hate rise up within him for asking this question. Tres did not want to hurt the woman he loved, especially by asking her this. But…it was imperative that he knew.

Surprisingly, Maria did not seem bothered by the question.

"I did. Three years prior to this."

She watched as Tres' eyes widened, his irises and pupils practically shrinking in his shock. "But that would mean…That would mean…"

"That's right. You're his father."

End Act II 

**Glossary of Terms**

**Dhampir/Crusnik**- Child of a vampire and a human. In **"The Lines Between Flesh & Steel"**, these individuals were reffered to as hybrids, but that was only because at the time I was not familiar with the term "dhampir". Because of their vampiric heritage, dhampirs were naturally the best suited to become vampire hunters, as they stood the best chances at fighting against vampires and living to tell about it. In the previous fanfic, it is explained--or rather, speculated--that one in ten dhampir is born a Crusnik. These Crusnik are considerably more powerful than the Crusnik in the Red Mars project in **Trinity Blood**, though they share the same abilities and powers, one exception being that the "natural" Crusnik also are capable of wielding all vampiric powers--including rare ones such as Radu Barvon's ability to control fire--with great dexterity and skill.

**Tres' fangs**- For those whom have read **"The Lines Between Flesh & Steel"**, they would be familiar with the fact that as an infant, Tres was infected by the same virus that turned humans into vampires by driving them to feed on the blood of their brethren. So technically, that fact would make him a vampire, yes? No, because the particular strain that infected him was unusually weak, and Gepetto Garibaldi was able to develop a vaccine for it with which he healed Tres. However, the virus did leave a mark of sorts on Tres, one sign of this being his half-developed fangs, which are not long or sharp enough to penetrate skin, should he attempt it.

**Senbonzakura Kageyoshi**- **"Vibrant Display of the Thousand Cherry Blossoms"** An apt name for a park covered in cherry trees, no? Any die-hard Bleach fan would also recognize this as the name of Byakuya's bankai.

**READ & REVIEW!**


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